diff --git a/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp b/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp
index e75b266e5..4a2309da7 100644
--- a/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/diff/gen-node.hpp
@@ -192,6 +192,18 @@ namespace diff{
       X& get();
       template<typename X>
       X const& get()  const;
+      
+      
+      /** visit _children_ of a nested `Record<GenNode>` */
+      Rec::scopeIter
+      childIter()  const
+        {
+          const Rec* rec = unConst(this)->maybeGet<Rec>();
+          if (!rec)
+            return Rec::scopeIter();
+          else
+            return rec->scope();
+        }
     };
   
   
@@ -262,7 +274,7 @@ namespace diff{
       
       
       
-      /** @internal diagnostics helper. Include format-helper.cpp on use */
+      /** @internal diagnostics helper */
       operator string()  const
         {
           return "GenNode-"+string(idi)+"-"+string(data);
@@ -310,6 +322,27 @@ namespace diff{
       iterator end()   const;
       
       
+      using ChildDataIter = TransformIter<Rec::scopeIter, DataCap const&>;
+      
+      /** visit the _data_ of nested child elements
+       * @return an iterator over the DataCap elements of all children,
+       *         in case this GenNode actually holds a Record.
+       *         Otherwise an empty iterator.
+       * @note this iterator visits _only_ the children, which are
+       *         by definition unnamed. It does _not_ visit attributes.
+       */
+      friend ChildDataIter
+      childData (GenNode const& n)
+      {
+        return ChildDataIter{ n.data.childIter()
+                            , [](GenNode const& child) ->DataCap const&
+                                {
+                                  return child.data;
+                                }
+                            };
+      }
+      
+      
       friend string
       name (GenNode const& node)
       {
diff --git a/tests/library/diff/gen-node-basic-test.cpp b/tests/library/diff/gen-node-basic-test.cpp
index 92a131372..31d569756 100644
--- a/tests/library/diff/gen-node-basic-test.cpp
+++ b/tests/library/diff/gen-node-basic-test.cpp
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ namespace test{
    *       - object-like elements can be represented by using a diff:Record<GenNode>
    *         as payload. Obviously, the resulting data structure type is recursive.
    *       - a shortcut is provided to simplify defining empty baseline objects
-   *       - there is a special notation to create "id references", which can
+   *       - a special notation is provided to create "id references", which
    *         can be used to stand-in for an "object" (Record). This shortcut
    *         notation is relevant for the tree diff language -- used within
    *         Lumiera as "External Tree Description" of object networks.
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ namespace test{
           CHECK (hamID.getHash() == ham.idi.getHash());
           CHECK (contains (string(hamID), "spam")); // Lovely spam!
           
-          Ref ref1("egg bacon sausage and spam");
+          Ref ref1("egg bacon sausage and spam"); // empty placeholder
           Ref ref2(ham);
           
           CHECK (ref1.idi == ham.idi);
@@ -328,6 +328,32 @@ namespace test{
           CHECK (0 == iter.level());
           CHECK (isnil (iter));
           
+          
+          
+          // another kind of iteration: shallow child data sequence
+          // note: exposing the DataCap of each child
+          auto child = childData(n);
+          CHECK (!isnil (child));
+          CHECK ('*' == child->get<char>());
+          
+          ++child;
+          CHECK ("★" == child->get<string>());
+          
+          ++child;
+          CHECK (almostEqual (PI, child->get<double>()));
+          
+          ++child;
+          CHECK ("ham"  == child->get<Rec>().getType());
+          CHECK ("eggs" == child->get<Rec>().child(0).data.get<string>());
+          
+          ++child;
+          CHECK (TimeSpan(Time::ZERO, FSecs(23,25)) == child->get<TimeSpan>());
+          
+          ++child;
+          CHECK (42 == child->get<int64_t>());
+          
+          ++child;
+          CHECK (isnil (child));
         }